A variety of designs have been developed for ovens used in industrial food production. For tortilla chip production ovens typically have multiple belts, and can be either arranged linearly or stacked. Most designs have at least one gas burner per belt, with more complex ovens using multiple burners per belt. A number of designs have been developed to optimize energy efficiency, by ensuring containment of heat between different belt-stages.
Despite development in oven designs and thereto related improved energy efficiency, it remains very difficult to control the temperature in large industrial ovens. Even with use of modern control algorithms, the temperature may not be well controlled within an acceptable tolerance, and periodic temperature oscillations may produce undesirable quality variations in the finished product.
As such, considering the foregoing, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for novel and improved devices and methods for controlling the temperature in industrial ovens used in food production.